Motivation: Fetal MRI is an important growing complementary antenatal imaging modality. Recently demonstrated 0.55T fetal MRI has shown to address challenges, such as geometric distortion and limited bore size. However, multi-centre studies and validation in cases with high BMI are required. Goal(s): Validating anatomical and functional fetal MRI at 0.55T in a multi-center study. Approach: Fetal 0.55T data was acquired in controls and clinically recruited participants at two hospitals. Quantitative analysis was performed, and image quality and biometry measures were cross-reported by radiologists at both institutions. Results: Excellent data quality with a high degree of agreement between observers was shown across both sites. Impact: The shown high degree of robustness and agreement in the present multi-centre fetal MRI study at 0.55T paves the way for wider usage - enabling fetal MRI in novel cohorts such as high BMI and late gestation and thus democratizing.
Silva et al. (Tue,) studied this question.